The owner of the Old Montreal building where seven people lost their lives in a fire last March is suing the City for $7.6 million.
Me Émile Benamor affirms that the City’s rules and regulations concerning heritage buildings have made any modification or renovation of this building on Place D’Youville impossible.
Mr. Benamor also claims that firefighters did not deploy the necessary resources to fight the March 16 fire in Old Montreal. He also maintains that the firefighters did not listen to him when he told them, a few minutes after the start of the fire, that there were very probably people inside the building.
The owner is also suing city officials, including Mayor Valérie Plante, for defamation for their comments following the fire.
In the meantime, several media indicate that the family of Charlie Lacroix, an 18-year-old young woman who died in the fire, filed a $1.5 million lawsuit on Friday against Mr. Benamor, the City of Montreal and the man who handled short term rentals in this building.
The Montreal City Police Department announced at the end of August that the fire was now the subject of a criminal investigation, after finding traces of accelerant at the scene of the fire.
Last March, shortly after the fatal fire, the father of Nathan Sears, one of the victims, filed a request in Superior Court for authorization to bring a $22 million class action against the owner Benamor, the rental platform short-term Airbnb and the man who managed this type of rental in the building, Tarik Hassan.
None of the allegations in the lawsuits have been proven in court.